


Nightmares

by BowTy_TheWritingPupper



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Gen, One Shot...?, prompted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 18:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13576110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BowTy_TheWritingPupper/pseuds/BowTy_TheWritingPupper
Summary: Prompt: An interaction with KO and TKO.





	Nightmares

Bedtime was always a gamble with KO. There was a great chance that he would drift off into a peaceful dreamland designed just for him. However, once in a blue moon, he would be plagued with a nightmare. It was always about the same thing. Despite the imminent risk of a terror-filled night, KO always looked forward to sleep. Despite his manic energy and excitable behavior, KO needed his rest Being that energetic all day was tiring on the young boy. So when his mother determined that it was time for bed, KO did not argue.

"Good night, pumpkin," Carol said cheerily as she flicked off the light switch of his room. KO looked at her from his bed through heavy eyelids. He smiled softly before letting out a robust yawn as fatigue caught up with him. He was tucked in tightly under his heavy blanket and ready to sleep. His day had been a lot more hectic than usual. In addition to a full day of school and a few hours of hard labor at the bodega, the Boxmore robots had attacked them. A fight with all three of them was usually difficult, but Darrel had a few upgrades that made fighting him especially difficult. They had prevailed in the end, but it was an exhausting fight. All the events of the day finally caught up with him when he finally laid in his bed. The soft pillow and mattress threatened to immediately drag him under the spell of sleep. However, he stayed away just long enough to say goodnight to his mother.

"Goodnight, mommy," He exclaimed with the last bit of energy he had left. Carol smiled gingerly at her son before responding.

"Have good dreams," She responded before leaving the room. She gently closed the door behind her. The click of the door closing marked her exit.

KO started into the darkness of his room for a bit as he started to drift off to sleep. It was not completely dark, for he always kept the Pow Card nightlight by his bed on, but it was still fairly dark in the room. He laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling as the drowsiness started to overpower him. The corners of his vision started to blur with a darkness KO knew was unnatural. He tried to sit up, but his body was already being pulled down into sleep.

Dread filled his stomach as he recognized the signs of a nightmare.

* * *

The dream started off normal enough. He was in the plaza. The sun was glistening in the crystal clear sky. Everything looked normal except for the fact that the plaza was completely devoid of any life but his own. The wind blew slightly and whipped his hair back and forth as he looked for anyone else.

"Hello," KO inquired to no one in particular. He called out to the open plaza, his voice muffled by the ever-growing ferocity of the wind. He looked all around the plaza but to no success.

Suddenly, he heard a whisper in his ears. "Worthless," The unfamiliar voice breathed in his ear. He whipped around in search of the person, but no one was around him. 

"Weak," another voice whispered. He turned sharply to catch whoever had insulted him, but once again there was nobody around him. The wind picked up even more, almost blinding him with its force. As the wind picked up, so did the voices. More terms like "useless", "burden", and "foolish" grew in volume to the point they were screaming in his head. The fact that they sounded distant, uncaring, caused his stomach to flip uncomfortably. The wind almost swiped him off his feet with its ferocity. KO dropped to his knees and covered his ears in panic. In the face of his attempts, the voices remained as loud and clear as they were before and the wind threatened to sweep him away. KO clenched his eyes shut as he curled up.

As quickly as it started, it stopped. The wind died down and only the stale, hot air remained. The voices hushed and were replaced with deafening silence. Tentatively, KO looked up at the plaza around him. It was still empty, but there was an air of stillness he had not felt before. Slowly, KO felt confident enough to stand up from his crouched position.

"Hey," he heard from behind him. That voice was different but familiar. It was not like the voices in his ears. It seemed real and further away. The voice was deeper than his and had a surly tone to, but it also sounded significantly similar to his own. KO turned around to face whoever called out to him. At that point, he was just pleased that he was no longer the only one in the plaza. The sight he was met with was far from a joyous one. KO gasped and stepped back as he took it in.

The plaza had disappeared just a few feet in front of him. Instead, the parking lot and buildings broke off into an inky black abyss. Large masses of the broken parking lot and remnants of destroyed buildings, including the bodega, floated aimlessly in the void. In the middle of it was a steel cage that contained the only person he never wished to see again.

TKO sat calmly in the cage checking out his back nails for flaws. He looked as wild as ever. His hair had grown out even more since the last time the two had met, mere inches from the ground and spikier than ever. He was pulsing with dark energy that crawled all around the cage and occasionally threatened to reach out and jolt KO.

"Hey, are you going to let me out of this thing or not," TKO growled in disdain. He had not looked up yet, instead opting to continue paying attention to his nails. KO's awestruck expression was replaced with one of indignation almost immediately after the words were spoken. Instead of asking about how he had managed to manifest after such a long time or why he was there in the first place.

"Why would I do that? You're dangerous," KO exclaimed in defense. Despite himself, KO inched closer to the void and the cage. TKO did not move his head, but his black eyes did shift from his hands to his pure counterpart.

"Because you need me." It was spoken as an irrefutable fact. The confidence in his voice made KO's blood boil. His cheeks reddened. He knew after TKO destroyed the plaza that he definitely did not need him. Though it would take him a while, he learned his lesson about trying to rush his progress in becoming a hero. TKO had made him more powerful but reversed his progress as a hero. When Enid, Rad, and his mom recanted their experiences with TKO, he had been absolutely appalled at what he had let TKO and the Shadowy Figure do to him and his friends. 

He clenched his fist angrily as he remembered the unfortunate event. He remembered waking up in the plaza, body still sparking with dark power and head throbbing with diminished adrenaline. Everyone standing over him, bruised and broken, but still fretting over his well being. They did not deserve anything like TKO again. He would do his best to prevent that.

Despite his righteous thoughts, KO's fist continued to clench tighter and tighter. The sound of something metallic bending caught both KO's and TKO's attention. They both looked up to see that a corner of the cage was bent out of place. KO gasped in alarm and stumbled backward, away from the cage. TKO, however, threw himself against the bars closest to the deformity to inspect it closer.

The corner was indeed bent severely out of shape. There was no newfound opening to the cage, but the bars were spread slightly further apart near the top. TKO smirked darkly as he observed it. A plan quickly hatched in his head. He turned to KO, who had kept his distance but was frozen in shock. He needed to take advantage of this while he could.

"You know I'm right. Without me, you're weak. You'll never become a true hero without my power. Come on!"

TKO knew exactly what he was doing. The more he talked, the more KO began to crumble. The last of the plaza broke off and floated into the void, leaving KO floating by the cage. Panic once again set in as he was overwhelmed by what was going on around him. Between TKO's insulting words, the deteriorating landscape, and his increasing anger, KO was struggling to remain in control.

"No! Stop," KO cried out desperately. He returned to the fetal position and shut his eyes once again. He covered his ears and continued to plead with his dark counterpart. He could feel the energy encompassing his being. He continued to scream and yell for help, but the energy only got stronger. He was vaguely aware that the feeling he was getting was identical to the one he felt when he first embraced TKO. The realization caused his stomach to flip.

"Help! Please! Mommy! Enid! Rad! Help," KO cried out into the nothingness. The despite having his eyes closed, the darkness got darker and darker until it was replaced with blinding light.

* * *

The situation was uneasily familiar. KO woke up on his back on the bedroom floor. His head was pounding from a violent headache. Despite the drowsy feeling that accompanied his headache, KO felt oddly energized. His whole body ached in phantom pain as he tried to sit up. The young boy groaned in pain as he opened his eyes, letting the white light of the morning invade his sight. The unexplained feelings of frustration and terror were replaced with embarrassment and curiosity as he looked around his room. 

The room was an absolute mess. Things were smashed to pieces on the floor. The walls looked singed with electricity, marking and burning the posters of various heroes that they housed. His blanket, sheets, and pillow were almost completely burned. KO rapidly sprung up from his seated position and ran to alert his mom of the mess.

Carol relished in the peace that sleep brought. While she had once been a bright eyed and bushy tailed morning person in her earlier years, she had long since learned to appreciate sleep. Sleep was an especially rare treat since KO had come along. While he was not particularly hard to put to bed, he did like to rise as early as she once had. Dealing with work, taking care of KO, and maintaining the house was a twenty-four hour, seven days a week job that exhausted Carol to no limit. However, no matter how tired she was, her duty as a mother and KO's needs would always come first. That was why when KO ran into her room crying, she opened her arms and offered him a spot in the bed without hesitation.

"What's wrong, pumpkin," Carol inquired with a hearty yawn. Her eyes remained mostly closed as she turned her head in the general direction of her son. She hugged him close and KO burrowed closely to her for comfort. He tried to stifle his low sobs and explain what had happened.

"M-My r-room, mommy! Someone messed it up! A-And I had a bad dream," KO exclaimed sorrowfully as he buried his face deeper into her shirt. He wet the thick fabric with poorly-contained tears. Carol's eyes opened to their fullest extent at the news. She jumped out of the bed and ran to inspect the house. She knew she was an exceptionally deep sleeper. but felt confident that she would have heard an intruder if there was one. To air on the side of caution, though, she scoped out the house to make sure they were not still there and that everything was intact. KO nuzzled under the blankets and waited for his mother to return.

Carol returned to the room about ten minutes later. She had made sure that she thoroughly checked every room in the house at least twice before declaring that they were alone. No other room in the house was damaged and nothing was taken. The only room with anything out of place was KO's. She had a feeling she knew what had happened, but she would need to talk to Gar about it later that day to make sure it was not just a worried mother's delusions. After she got back into bed and cuddled up next to the traumatized child, Carol decided to test her theory while it was still hopefully fresh in KO's mind.

"KO, sweetheart, what was your bad dream about," Carol asked carefully and quietly. She did not want to cause a violent reaction, but she needed to know if they had a serious problem on their hands. KO sniffed a couple of times before mumbling quietly.

"I don't remember, mommy. I was just so scared," He said sleepily. His eyes started to droop as he felt sleep once again try to claim him. Despite having slept for so long, he was completely exhausted and had no idea why. All he wanted to do was sleep and let the worry wash away along with his consciousness. Carol saw how sleepy he was and just hummed a response. She rubbed his bad and let him rest. She would figure out what was going on later.

If she was right, they might not be making it out of the situation quite as unscathed as they had after the previous TKO encounter.

**Author's Note:**

> I finally finished this! I apologize for the wait between my stories, but I have been going through some stuff lately that slowed me down. I was prompted by spooky-ducklings on my Tumblr to write a KO and TKO interaction and this is how I thought that I could best do it. I also wrote it this way so that there was a possibility to make it more than a one-shot, but it's really up to you all to decide. Please don't be afraid to comment and tell me what you think and if I should continue.   
> I had a blast writing this. If you like it, I suggest giving my other stories a try. Please, leave a kudos, share, and comment if you can! I hope you enjoyed it and have a good one!


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